Apparatus for closing and sealing lined containers



April 18, 1961 F. D. BERGSTEIN ETAL 2,979,995

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 28, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. ,C D. 5EEGS7'E/N! Leo/wage BACK,

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April 18, 1961 F. D. BERGSTEIN ETAL 2,979,995

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Fi led'Jan. 2a, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fkazvz Q MGGTEIN, 6 A20 634a:

April 18, 1961 v F. D. BERGSTEIN ETAL- 2,979,995

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 2a, 1960 Y 5 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTORS. em/K 0. .'seasrsw, L'O/V lea 5,4cK,

ATTOIN Y5 April 18, 1961 F. o. BERGSTEIN EI'AL 2,979,995

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 28, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Hull .u

0 ho l Iuli EGJZ E IN VENTORS. Pea/w: 12 fiszasrsm,

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AZT EG.21. m 'roculv April 18, 1961 v F. D. IBERGSTEIN ETAL 2,979,995

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Filed Jan. .28, 1960 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 Jam. 22.

INVENTORS. Fame 0. 841067-51, Lwvmep Bacx,

ATTORN 22,979,9 lPatented Apr. 18, 198E face APPARATUS FOR CLOSING AND SEALING LINED CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 5,290

27 Claims. (CI. 93-44) This invention relates to packaging apparatus, and

more particularly to the provision of improved apparatus for closing and sealing the ends of inner-lined containers.

In Bergstein Patent 2,277,289, patented March 24, 1942, there is disclosed a packaging machine wherein the lined containers to be closed and sealed are delivered to carriages which advance the containers through a series of operating stations at which the extending liner mouths and end flaps of the containers are folded and sealed. In such device, the infolding of the end closure flaps was effected by a series of sweeps, the carriages conveying the containers being rotatably mounted relative to their direction of movement so that they could be turned or indexed, thereby turning the containers so as to successively present the several end closure flaps for folding with their lines of articulation paralleling their direction of motion.

While machines of the character disclosed in the aforementioned Bergstein patent have proven highly successful in the closing and sealing of conventional paper board containers lined with nonfibrous films, such as moistureproof heat-sealing cellophane, the trend in recent years has been toward laminated container structures which have been proven to be more difficult to close and seal. For example, many inner-lined containers in current use incorporated liners comprising a paper-polyethylene-foil laminate, and the container itself is a boxboard-foil laminate. Such laminated liners greatly enhance the moisture-vapor proofness of the package, and the foil laminated container is utilized both for its proofing characteristics and also for its enhanced appearance, the foil surface of the-container being outermost and, when suitably printed, providing an exceptionally attractive package.

Containers of the character described present special handling problems in that the extending ends of the liners do not readily lend themselves to free folding'as an incident of the infolding of the closure flaps, and the closure flaps themselves are most difficult to seal by reason of the difficulties encountered in effecting a rapid adhesive bond with a foil surface, for example.

Accordingly, a principal object of the instant invention is the provision of an improved container closing and sealing device capable of neatly and accurately folding and sealing laminated containers and liners of the type characterized above.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of a container folding and sealing device in which the rotation or indexing of the container carriage is eliminated, the liner and closure flaps being acted upon by a plurality of co-acting folding instrumentalities operparatus wherein that portion of the operating cycle of the apparatus devoted to the folding of the closure flaps ismaterially reduced, as compared to prior art devices of the same general character, thereby freeing a greater portion of the operating cycle for the sealing together of the closure flaps.

Still a further object of the instant invention is the provision of an improved apparatus of the character described capable of higher production speeds than were obtainable on prior art machines of the same general type.

The foregoing, together with other objects of the invention which will appear hereinafter or which will be apparent to the skilled worker in the art upon reading these specifications, are accomplished by those constructions and arrangements of parts of which an exemplary embodiment shall now be described.

Reference is first made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of container closing and sealing apparatus in accordance with the invention, but with parts broken away and others in section to better illustrate certain features to be hereinafter described.

Figure 2 is a schematic fragmentary perspective view illustrating successive stages in the operation of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary plan views illustrating successive stages in the folding of a container as it advances around the left-most end of the device illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view with parts broken away illustrating the side of the apparatus opposite the side illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a container end closure at the time the sealing adhesive is applied thereto.

Figure 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 1010 of Figure 7.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary perspective view taken along the line 1111 of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is an enlarged perspective view of one of I the guide plates used in conjunction with the adhesive applying mechanism.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary end elevational view of one of a series of pressure rollers for applying sealing pressure to the uppermost ends of the closed cartons.

Figure 14 is a side elevational view of the sealing roller illustrated in Figure 13.

Figure 15 is an enlarged plan view of the under surface of the cam member controlling the movement of the folding plate mechanism.

Figure 16 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the folding plate mechanism and the co-acting rotary sweep.

Figure 17 is a horizontal sectional view'taken along the' lines 17-17 of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the folding plate.

Figure 19 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 19-49 of Figure 7.

Figure 20 is an enlarged plan view of the sweep best seen in Figures 3, 4 and Figure 21 is a side elevational view of the sweep illustrated in Figure 20.

Figure 22 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 22-42 of Figure 7.

Figure 23 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a floating idler roller used in conjunction with the adhesive applying wheel.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, the entire device is supported on a table-like frame 1 mounting toward its opposite ends a pair of bearings 2 and 3 for the vertically disposed shafts 4 and 5 which mount a pair of horizontally disposed sprockets 6 and 7 about which a conveyor chain 8 operates in a horizontally disposed flight. Driving power is supplied by the sprocket 7 which is driven through suitable gearing from drive shaft 9 operatively connected, as by means of driving gear 10, to any suitable source of power (not shown), such as an electric motor. The chain 8 carries a series of interspaced carriage members 11 which are guided in proper alignment about the conveyor path by suitable channeled guide members, generally indicated at 12.

The carriage members 11 are each adapted to receive and convey a container 13 which will be presented to the carriage at one end of the machine, as at the station A seen in Figure 1. The containers will be presented to the carriage in upright position with the top closure flaps and the liner projecting upwardly in the manner illustrated at A in Figure 2. The carriages are each provided with co-acting pairs of locking arms 14 adapted, upon presentation of a container to the carriage, to engage the container body walls and secure it to the carriage. For details of the construction and operation of the carriages reference is made to Bergstein et a1. Patent 2,443,293, issued June 15, 1948, wherein the construction and operation of such carriages is fully set forth.

As container 13 is advanced by its carriage, the upstanding liner portion 15 will be contacted by a spreading device comprising a pair of fingers 16 and 17 which enter the mouth of the. liner and bring it to the flattened and elongated position seen at B (Figures 1 and 2). In addition to elongating or spreading the liner, the fingers serve to outfold the leading and trailing end closure flaps 18 and 19 which are engaged and maintained in their outfolded positions by means of a hold-down bar 20. Simultaneously with the action of the fingers 16 and 17, a pair of sweeps 21 and 22, best seen in Figure 3, engage and outfold the remaining end closure flaps 23 and 24.

The mechanism controlling the spreading movement of fingers 16 and 17 is substantially identical to that dis closed in Bergstein Patent 2,114,622, issued April 19, 1938, and reference is made to the said patent for details concerning the construction and operation of the spreading fingers. It is competent to note that the spreading fingers will be driven in timed relation to the movement of the carriages 11, as by means of drive shaft 25 (Figure l) driven from drive shaft 9.

As the fingers 16 and 17 are withdrawn from the elongated and flattened mouth of the liner, the liner passes between a pair of closely spaced apart heating elements 26 and 27 (Figure 3) which serve to activate a heat sealable coating for ply, such as polyethylene, on the inner surface of the liner, whereupon a co-acting pair of pressure wheels 28 and 29 seal together the juxtaposed and flattened walls of the liner. Thereafter, the sealed end of the liner is contacted by a sweep 30 which folds over the projecting end of the liner, the container assuming the condition illustrated at C in Figure 2.

It should be made clear at this point that the mechanism thus far described is of conventional construction, as exemplified by the aforementioned Bergstein patents, and does not constitute a limitation on the instant invention which is concerned with the handling and manipulation of the container structures'subsequent to their conversion to the conditions illustrated at C" in Figure 2.

In accordance with the instant invention the end of the machine, i.e. the portion of the machine in the area of the sprocket 6 about which the containers travel in a curved path, is utilized to effect the infolding of the leading and trailing closure flaps 18 and 19 together with the opposite ends of the flattened liner overlying the flaps.

Heretofore the end section of the machine was essentially dead" in that the various folding operations were conducted along the straight-line portions of the conveyor travel. Thus, the infolding of the closure flaps was conducted during movement of the carriages along the second or return straight-line section of the machine, the containers being indexed and turned to effect the desired infolding of the flap. This resulted in a very little if any room along the second straight-line section of the machine in which to effect positive gluing and sealing of the infolded closure flaps. By providing mechanism to infold some at least of the flaps as the containers travel about the sprocket 6, a substantial portion of the second straight-line section of the machine may be devoted to the sealing of the closure flaps.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that as the containers pass beyond station C, their upper ends are contacted by a tapered hold-down plate 31 which acts to hold all of the end closure flap in outfolded horizontally disposed position. It will be noted that the sweeps 21 and 22, which maintain the opposite closure flaps 23 and 24 in outfolded condition during the flattening and sealing of the liner, terminate as the containers approach a position tangential with respect to sprocket 6, and it is at this point that the closure flaps come under the influence'of hold-down plate 31. The closure flap 23 is thus freed for contact by folding plate 32 and closure flap 24 is freed for contact by folding arm 33. At this juncture, the container begins to move in a curved path about the sprocket 6 and, in so moving, the closure flaps 18 and 24 come under the influence of folding arm 33.

As will be seen from Figure 21, the folding arm 33 is configured to provide a leading part 34 which is downwardly inclined, an intermediate part 35 which is horizontally disposed, and a trailing part 36 which is upwardly inclined. This configuration of the folding arm together with its proper positioning relative to the paths of travel of the closure flaps causes the flaps 18 and 24 tobe folded in opposite directions. Thus, as will be seen in Figures 3 and 4, the outermost edge 18a of closure flap 18 will describe an are having a radius r-l, whereas the outermost leading edge 24a of closure flap 24 will describe an are having a radius r-2'. The positioning of the folding arm is such that the edge 18a of the leading closure flap will clear the downwardly inclined part 34 of the folding arm but will overlie the intermediate part 35 and the upwardly inclined part 36. As the container is advanced, the closure flap 18 will be folded upwardly in the manner best seen in Figure 4; and to this end the trailing part of the folding arm is preferably curved, as seen at 36a in Figure 20.

The leading part 34 of the folding arm is, however, positioned to lie in the path of the corner 24a of closure flap 24; and the closure flap will pass beneath the arm and, by reason of the downward inclination of the leading part, will be deflected downwardly, in which position it may be engaged by a sweep 37 (Figures 5 and 16). As will be seen from Figure 5, as the container advances, the outermost corner edge of trailing closure flap 19 will follow the same path of travel as the leading flap 18, and consequently the trailing flap will pass over the intermediate part 35 of the folding arm and will be folded upwardly as it passes along the curved edge of 36a of the trailing part of the arm.

While the folding of the closure flaps is taking place, the folding plate 32 will be moved, in a manner to be hereinafter described in detail, to a position overlying the flattened liner. The dimensions of the folding plate are such that its opposite end edges will be aligned with the fold lines of the closure flaps 18 and 19 and hence provide edges about which the extending end portions of the flattened liner may be neatly folded as the closure flaps are infolded. As will be seen from Figures 5 and ,6, the infolding of the leading closure flap 18 is eliected by means of sweep 38 which contacts the outer surface of the now upwardly inclined flap 18. The trailing end a kicker to infold the trailing closure flap. In this connection, the sweep 37 which engages closure flap 24, folds the flap 24 into a downwardly inclined position,

thereby assuring the unobstructed travel of the rotary sweep thereover. It will be noted that the positioning of sweep 38, which infolds the, leading flap 18, is such that flap 18 will be completely infolded so that the rotary sweep also may pass over it (Figure 6). As the container advances, the now infolded trailing flap 19 will also come under the influence of sweep 38 which, as will be apparent from Figure 3, serves to retain both flaps 18 and 19 in infolded position. It will be also apparent from Figure 3 that upon completion of the infolding of flaps 18 and 19, the folding plate 32 will be retracted and the container will advance along the second straight-line portion of the machine for subsequent folding and gluing of the remaining c osure flaps.

A plurality of folding plates 32 are provided, the plates being arranged to be sequentially presented to the containers being advanced by the conveyor. In the embodiment illustrated, three such plates are employed, although it will be understood that their number will vary depending upon the size of the machine and the spacing of the carriages.

As possibly best seen in Figure 16, the plates are suspended from a turret keyed or otherwise fixedly secured to the shaft 4 which, it will be remembered, also mounts the sprocket 6; and the plates are thus rotated in timed relation to the movement of the sprockets and hence the container carrying carriages 11. Each of the plates is suspended from the turret 44 by means of a mounting bracket 42 and a pantograph linkage 43 terminating at its lower end ina forked member 44 to which the plate 32 is pivotally mounted by means of a horizontally disposed pin 45. The pantograph linkage permits the plate to be maintained'in essentially horizontally disposed position as it is moved from retracted to extended position. Since the movement of the plates is not truly planar in that the pantograph linkage describes an are as it swings even though'tlre attached plate remains essentially horizontally disposed, it is desirable to springbias each of the plates by mean of the finger 46 and spring 47 which urges the finger against a stop 48, With this arrangement the plate maybe readily withdrawn from beneath the infolded closure flaps 18 and 19, the plate pivoting against the compression of spring 47 as the pantograph linkage moves rearwardly.

The plates are extended and retracted by means of actuating arms 49 connected to the pantograph linkages intermediate their ends, the arms being provided with cam followers 50 which engage the race 51 of a cam 52 surrounding the shaft 4 and fixedly secured to a mounting bracket 53 secured to an extension l-a of the machine frame. The race of the cam 52 is illustrated in Figure 15 wherein the follower 50a indicates the fully retracted position of the linkage and the follower 50b illustrates the fully extended position. As will be evident from Figures 3 through 6, the cam will be oriented so that the folding plates 23 will begin their outward movement upon alignment of a container therewith, the plates being fully extended by the time the closure flaps 18 and 19 are acted upon by the sweeps 38 and 39. Retracting movement will begin subsequent to the engagement of both flaps by the sweep 38.

As will be seen in Figures 1 and 7, the shaft 4 may be conveniently extended upwardly through the mounted bracket 53 and frame 1a where, through suitable gearing, indicated generally at 54, it may be utilized to drive shaft 40 mounting rotary sweep 39.

Referring again to Figure 3, it will be seen that after the containers pass around sprocket wheel 6 and enter the second straight-line portion of the machine, the undersurface of the closure flap 23 will be contacted by a sweep 55 which acts to raise the flap to a vertical portion and align it for contact by knurling wheel 56. Details of the knurling wheel assembly are shown in Figure 19, wherein it will be seen that the wheel 56 is mounted on a driven shaft 57 rotatably journaled in a bearing bracket 58 which also mounts a shaft 59 rotatably mounting a back-up roller 60. The purpose of the knurling wheel 56 is to provide an embossed or roughened area 61 (Figures 8 and 9) extending lengthwise of flap 23. Such roughened or embossed area is required where the outer surface of flap 23 is formed from foil or is otherwise resistant to an adhesive bond. Where the surface of the board is foil, it is preferred that the knurling wheel actually puncture the foil layer, as indicated at 62 in Figure 9, thereby providing interstices into which the adhesive may flow and bond. It will be understood that the shaft 57 which rotates the knurling wheel may be driven in any suitable manner. In the embodi ment illustrated, and as seen in Figure 7, a chain 63 serves to drive the shaft 57 from the mechanism which operates the pairs of fingers 16 and 17.

As the flap 23 is subjected to the action of the knurling wheel, a sweep 64, also seen in Figure 7, acts to bring the opposite closure flap 24 into horizontal position and aligns it for passage between the guide plate 65 and 66 which position the flap 24 for contact by adhesive applying wheel 67. Preferably, the lower guide plate 65 will be provided with a pair of spaced apart spring fingers 68 and 69 lying on opposite sides of the wheel 67 and arranged to urge the flap 24 upwardly for positive contact with the adhesive wheel. The adhesive wheel will act to apply a lengthwise stripe of adhesive 70 (Figure 8) to the upper surface of the outfolded flap 24, the stripe 70 being so positioned that upon subsequent infolding of closure flap 23 followed by the infolding of flap 24, adhesive stripe 70 will be juxtaposed to the embossed or roughened area 61 of flap 23.

The adhesive applying wheel 67 may be continuously rotated or it may be intermittently operated, with adhesive applied to the wheel in any known manner. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the adhesive is fed to the applicator wheel from a spool 71 in the form of a rope or strand 72. Such rope or strand adhesives.

are commercially available and comprise various compositions of plastic and/or rubber materials capable of extremely rapid setting. Such thermoplastic rope adhesive will setfrom an essentially liquid condition in as little as a fraction of a second and consequently are highly suited to high speed folding and gluing operations.

In the embodiment illustrated, the rope adhesive is fed to a heating chamber 73 wherein increments of the rope are melted and deposited on the applicator wheel 67 for application to the closure flaps. In this connection, the applicator wheel may be conveniently driven by means of chain drive 74 operatively associated with other drive mechanisms of the apparatus, the chain 74 acting to drive-the shaft 75 mounting applicator wheel 67. The shaft 75 may also mount a second chain drive 76 which will feed the rope adhesive to the heating chamber. Preferably, the adhesive wheel 67 will be continuously rotated, although it may be provided with a magnetic clutch operative to effect intermittent feeding of the adhesive material to the heating chamber.

By reason of the extremely rapid setting time of the adhesive, it has been found desirable to preheat flap 23, and to this end a heating unit 77 (Figure 3) is provided for heating the'flap as the adhesive stripe 70 is being applied to the opposite flap. Thereafter, the flaps 23 and 24 are immediately infolded by means of the sweeps 78 and 79, thereby juxtaposing the adhesive stripe 70 on the undersurface of flap 24 to the embossed or roughened area 61 on the uppermost surface of flap 23. Thereafter, the juxtaposed closure flaps are contacted by a pressure roller 80 which, as best seen in Figure 22, is mounted so as to apply sealing pressure directly over the adhesive stripe, the pressure roller 80 being mounted on a suitable adjustable bracket indicated at 81.

It has also been found desirable to immediately follow up the pressure roller 80 with a series of spring pressed rollers 82 to assure continuing pressure on the infolded closure flaps. The pressure rollers 82 are illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 wherein it will be seen that each roller is suspended from a supporting plate 83 by means of rods 84 passing through openings 85 in the shafts 86 mounting the rollers. The springs 87 extend between the plate 83 and partial bearings 88 which serve to spring bias the rollers toward the tops of the containers. The stops 89 on the ends of the rods 84 will limit the downward movement of the rollers. Preferably the rollers are in the form of steel tubes rotatably journaled on the shafts 86 by means of suitable bearings 90. Subsequent to their passage beyond the series of pressure rollers 82, the containers will arrive at a discharge station D where the locking arms 14 of the carriages will open and the containers will be removed from the machine.

From the foregoing it should be apparent that the apparatus of the instant invention is capable of neatly and accurately folding and sealing lined containers. The apparatus permits rapid handling of the containers in a straight-line operation i.e., without turning or indexing the containers as they are advanced in their path of travel. By utilizing the dead space during which the containers pass around one of the sprockets as a flap folding station, substantially the entire second straightline portion of the machine may be devoted to flap sealing, thereby assuring adequate time for a tight bond to be developed before the containers are discharged from the machine.

Modifications will undoubtedly occur to the skilled worker in the art upon reading the specifications, and consequently the invention is not intended to be limited excepting in the manner set forth in the claims which follow. For example, Figure 23 illustrates an alternative form of means for pressing the closure flap 24 into contact with the applicator wheel 67. In this instance an adjustable arm 91 mounts a roller 92 which may be selectively positioned, as illustrated in dotted lines, so as to secure positive contact of the flap with the applicator wheel.

Having thus described the invention in an exemplary embodiment, what is desired to be secured and protected by Letters Patent is:

1. In apparatus for closing and sealing lined containers wherein conveyor means are provided for advancing the containers in a path of travel, said conveyor having a first straight-line section, an intermediate arcuate section, and a second straight-line section, and wherein means are provided along said first straight-line conveyor section to outfold the closure flaps at the upper-end of each container and flatten and seal the mouth of the liner projecting therefrom, the improvement which comprises providing folding means positioned to engage and infold the leading and trailing closure flaps of each container as it is advanced in an arcuate path along said intermediate arcuate conveyor section, said folding means comprising a folding arm mounted adjacent the path of travel of the containers, said arm having a leading part which is downwardly inclined in the direction of travel of the containers, an intermediate part which is generally horizontally disposed, and a trailing part which is upwardly inclined in the direction of travel of the containers, said folding arm being positioned so that the leading and trailing end closure flaps of the containers will pass inwardly of the leading part thereof and will overlie and contact the intermediate and trailing parts thereof, whereby the said leading and trailing closure flaps will be folded .upwardly as they are moved along the trailing part of said arm, the leading part of said arm being positioned so that its undersurface will be contacted by a third closure fiap of each container so as to cause such flap to be folded downwardly thereby, sweep means for contacting the upwardly folded leading and trailing closure flaps and infolding them to overlie the container bodies, and means along the second straight-line section of the conveyor for infolding and sealing the remaining closure flaps.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for infolding the leading closure flaps of each container comprises a stationary sweep positioned to overlie the container bodies as they are advanced in an arcuate path,

said stationary sweep being adapted to contact the outer surface of the leading flap and told it inwardly as the con tainer advances therebeneath.

3. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for infolding the trailing closure flap of each container comprises a traveling sweep moving with the containers and adapted to contact the outer-surfaces of the trailing flaps and infold them over the container bodies.

4. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein said traveling sweep comprises a horizontally disposed blade mounted for rotary movement in synchronism with the movement of the containers.

5. The device claimed in claim 1 including a folding plate arranged to travel with the containers as they move in an arcuate path of travel, means mounting said plate for movement from a retracted position to an extended position in which it overlies the upper-end of a container, and means for moving said plate to extended position as the container comes under the influence of said folding arm and the means for infolding the leading and trailing closure flaps.

6. The device claimed in claim 5 wherein a plurality of said plates are provided and arranged to be sequentially presented to consecutive containers being advanced by said conveyor.

7. The device claimed in claim 6 wherein the means mounting each of said plates comprises a pantograph linkage suspended from a support movable a timed relation to the movement of said conveyor.

8. The apparatus claimed in claim 7 wherein said pantograph linkages are suspended from a revolving turret, and wherein the means for moving each of said plates from retracted to extended position comprises a cam having an eccentric race adapted to be engaged by cam followers operatively connected to said pantograph linkages.

9. The device claimed in claim 8 wherein said folding plates are pivotally secured to the lower ends of said pantograph linkages, and wherein spring means are provided to bias said plates in one direction.

10. The device claimed in claim 9 wherein the intermediate arcuate section of said conveyor is defined by a horizontally disposed sprocket about which said conveyor is adapted to travel, wherein said sprocket is rotatably mounted on a vertically disposed shaft, and wherein said last named shaft also mounts the turret from which said pantograph linkages are suspended.

11. In apparatus for closing and sealing lined containers wherein conveyor means are provided for advancing the containers in a path of travel, said conveyor having a first straight-line section, an intermediate arcuate section, and a second straight-line section, means along the first straight-line section of the conveyor for outfolding closure flaps on the upper end of each container, means for flattening and sealing together the walls of an open mouth liner in each such container, and means for folding the extending end of the flattened and sealed liner to overlie the body of the container with opposite ends of the liner overlying the leading and trailing closure flaps of the container; means operative during the passage of the containers along said intermediate arcuate section of the conveyor for juxtaposing a folding plate to the upper end of the container body, and means operative to infold the leading and trailing closure flaps and the end portions of the liner over said folding plate, means operative during movement of the containers along the second straight-line section of said conveyor to apply adhesive to at least one of the'remaining closure flaps of the con tainer, means for thereafter infolding the remaining closure flaps so as to juxtapose them with the adhesive interposed therebetween, and means for thereafter applying sealing pressure to the infolded and juxtaposed closure flaps, whereby to effect a tight bond thcrebetween.

12. The device claimed in claim 11 wherein the means operative to infold the leading and trailing closure flaps of each container comprises a folding bar configured to engage and fold upwardly the leading and trailing closure flaps, and coacting sweep means arranged to engage and infold the upwardly folded closure flaps, there being a stationary sweep means positioned to contact the upwardly l'ol'ded leading closure flap, and a moving sweep member arranged to contact and infold the upwardly folded trailing closure flap.

13. The device claimed in claim 12 wherein said moving sweep means comprises a revolving blade driven in timed relation to the speed of travel of the conveyor.

14. The device claimed in claim 11 wherein the means operative to juxtapose a folding plate to the upper end of the container body comprises a supportmovable with the containers through a portion at least of said intermediate arcuate conveyor section, a pantograph linkage mounted on said support, said folding plate being yieldingly secured to said linkage, and means operative upon movement of said support to eflect movement of said linkage toward and away from the containers as they advance along the intermediate arcuate section of the conveyor.

15. The device claimed in claim 14 including acam follower operatively connected to said pantograph linkage, and a cam positioned to be contacted by said follower to efiect movement of said linkage.

16. The device claimed in claim 15 wherein said movable support comprises a rotatable turret, wherein said turret mounts a plurality of said pantograph linkages each mounting a folding plate, and wherein means are provided to rotate said turret in timed relation tothe movement of said conveyor, whereby adjacent plates will be presented to adjacent containers carried by said conveyor.

17. The device claimed in claim 11 wherein the means for applying adhesive to one of said remaining closure flaps comprises an adhesive applicator mounting an applicator wheel, means for depositing liquid adhesive on said wheel, and means for pressing the closure flap to be coated into contact with said wheel.

18. The device claimed in claim 17 wherein said adhesive applicator comprises a heated chamber to which rope adhesive is adapted to be fed at intermittent intervals, wherein means are provided to continuously rotate said applicator wheel in timed relation to the movement of the conveyor, whereby the increments of rope adhesive 10 intermittently fed into said heated'chamber will be melted and deposited on said applicator wheel in registry with the passage of a container flap therebeneath.

19. The device claimed in claim 18 including knurling means in advance of the means for infolding and juxtaposing said remaining closure fiaps, said knurling means being positioned to contact one of said remaining closure flaps and acting to roughen an area of the flap contacted thereby.

20. The device claimed in claim 19 including means for heating at least one of said remaining closure flaps immediately prior to the infolding and adhesive sealing thereof.

21. The device claimed in claim 20 including pressure means positioned to apply sealing pressure to the infolded and scaled closure flans as the containers are advanced along the second straight-line section of said conveyor.

22. The device claimed in claim 21 wherein said pressure app-lying means comprises a plurality of rollers each of which is spring pressed into contact with the infolded and sealed closure flaps.

23. In apparatus for closing and sealing lined containers wherein the containers are advanced in a path of travel, a folding plate adapted to be juxtaposed to the upper end of an advancing container to provide a support over which'the end closure flaps and liner are adapted to be folded, means mounting said plate for movement in alignment with the advancing container, means mounting said plate for movement from a retracted position in which it is out of contactwith the container to extended position in which said plate overlies the container, and means operative to move said plate from retracted to extended position upon alignment of the container therewith and to subsequently retract said plate upon completion of the desired folding operation.

24. The device claimed in claim 23 wherein the container 'is advanced in an arcuate path-of travel, wherein the means mounting a plate for aligning movement with the advancing container comprises a revolving turret, and wherein the means mounting the plate for movement from a retracted to an extended position comprises a pantograph linkage suspended from said turret. 1

25. The device claimed in claim 24 wherein-the means operative to move said plate from retractedto extended position comprises a cam having an eccentric race adapted to be engaged by a cam follower operatively connected to said pantograph linkage. 26. The device claimed in claim 25 wherein said folding plate ispivotally secured to the lower end of said pantograph linkage, and wherein a spring means acts to bias said plate in one direction.

27. The device claimed in claim-26 wherein a plurality of said plates are suspended from said turret, said plates being arranged to be sequentially presented to suecessive containers being advanced in said arcuate path of travel.

Bergstein et al. Mar. 24, 1942 Vergobbi Sept. 7, 1943 

